Sabin Community Native Garden & Sabin Edible Garden

Celebrate Earth Day at Sabin Gardens on Saturday, April 25th 10:30am – 2:30pm

Learn to build with cob!
A great activity for children and adults! Together we will
create two cob benches in Sabin School’s edible garden.
Cob building uses hands and feet to form lumps of earth mixed
with sand and straw, a sensory and aesthetic experience!
Bring rubber boots or prepare to get your feet muddy!
Meet and work together with others who are active in the community.
Free food, but bring a dish to share if you would like!
If you would like to bring a potluck dish, or would like more information please contact:
Valerie Thompson at 503-916-6707 or vthompson@impactnw.org, or
Madelyn Mickelberry at 503-916-6707 Madelyn@sabingardens.org

What did we do during our spring break? We built a fence! More than a fence, actually, a new border consisting of a split-rail fence, rocks and logs that will help protect the Native Garden. A grant from the East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District paid for the materials, then parents and neighbors got together on Saturday, March 21 and other times throughout the week to do the installation. The Edible Garden got a fence, too, thanks to funds from the Sabin PTA. Special thanks go to Gilbert Shibley for bringing in nearly two tons of logs and boulders. Old Town Pizza and Starbucks on Fremont donated food and refreshments for the work party. Kids painted pots and filled them with donated strawberry starts for sale at the upcoming PTA Auction. In the coming weeks the Native Garden fence will get the final four segments installed. In the meantime, have a look at the photos on our Gallery page and don’t hesitate to ask questions at webmaster@sabingardens.org.

To any in doubt about why an elementary school would need an edible garden, I recommend reading Michael Polllan’s article in the New York Times Magazine entitled, Farmer in Chief. In it, Pollan makes the case that many of the challenges America faces in healthcare, energy, climate change and national security are tied to our nation’s food policy. He writes,

“Changing the food culture must begin with our children, and it must begin in the schools. Nearly a half-century ago, President Kennedy announced a national initiative to improve the physical fitness of American children. He did it by elevating the importance of physical education, pressing states to make it a requirement in public schools. We need to bring the same commitment to ‘edible education’…On the premise that eating well is a critically important life skill, we need to teach all primary-school students the basics of growing and cooking food and then enjoying it at shared meals.”

The Native Garden now has permanent paths, thanks to purchase of 75 stepping stone pavers by the Sabin PTA. A big “Thank you!” goes to Ken Rumbaugh and the ACCESS Academy classes of Ms. Clarke and Ms. Egan for braving the wet weather and installing over 1200 lbs of pavers to make these new paths. The next step for ensuring the success of the Native Garden will be to create fencing that directs foot traffic to the stepping-stone paths.

(The stepping stone shown in the photo is one of several dozen decorated by Sabin students several years ago. These were mixed in with the new pavers.)

Last Saturday, October 18, parents, neighbors and students helped in the Edible Garden by pulling weeds, laying down landscape fabric and spreading donated mulch. Plus, the spectacular iron gates for the garden by Matt Cartwright were put into place. These gates allow easier maintenance access to the garden, while helping to create a sense of place. The finishing touches (a big sign at the top and a latch) will be installed soon.

Our Edible Garden is in need of a little TLC and you are invited on October 18th from 9am – 2pm to help clean our garden up. Our goals are to weed the area, place weed barrier in open areas then put the chips on the barrier. Not only will this spruce up the looks of our garden but also get our garden ready for the fall/winter season. The new gates by Matt Cartwright for the Edible Garden (pictured) will also be installed. Free coffee and muffins for all volunteers.

Parents, students and neighbors all helped to get the Sabin grounds and gardens ready for the school year at the PTA/SOLV Spuce-Up Day on August 23rd. Significant for the Native Garden are new benches that circle some of the mature trees nearby. At left, two ACCESS Academy students pull some prize oak tree starts from the Native Garden.

Sabin PTA/SOLV Spruce-Up Day: August 23rd 9am-noon (& beyond) — Come help clean-up and freshen up Sabin School, inside and out. The Sabin PTA & SOLV team up to get the school grounds in tip-top shape in time for our returning students in September. E-mail the Sabin PTA at sabinpta@comcast.net for more details or to sign-up to pitch in. We are in need of volunteers with construction skills as we will be installing four new benches and two new garbage containers on the Spruce-Up Day.

On May 3, 2008 dozens of parents, teachers, staff and neighbors had a great time creating the Sabin Edible Garden in the North playground of the school yard. They laid the groundwork for what promises to be a valuable educational opportunity for students at Sabin, summer SUN School and ACCESS Academy. What started as a flat expanse of grass became by the end of the day a star-shaped array of raised planting beds and barrels. Fresh lettuce starts went in, as well as fruit trees and berry bushes.

At the same time, in the South playground area, the Sabin Community Native Garden received a fresh infusion of approximately 300 native plants and had pathways redifined with fresh bark chips.